The Nigerian Senate has unanimously passed a bill prescribing life imprisonment for anyone convicted of defiling a minor.
The bill, titled the Criminal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks to amend the existing Criminal Code Act to strengthen child protection laws and eliminate gender bias in the prosecution of sexual offences.
Leading the debate on the concurrent bill earlier passed by the House of Representatives, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the amendment represents a decisive effort to safeguard the rights of children and ensure that offenders face stiffer consequences for their crimes.
"Under the current law, defilement attracts a five-year sentence. This amendment proposes life imprisonment to reflect the gravity of the offence and to serve as a deterrent," Bamidele stated.
The Senate also proposed a minimum 10-year jail term for rape, defining the offence as any act of forcing a person, male or female, to engage in sexual intercourse without consent, regardless of the location.
According to Clause 2(1) of the bill, "Any person who detains a man or boy, a girl or a woman against his or her will in any premises in order to have unlawful carnal knowledge of him or her, whether in a brothel or elsewhere, commits a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years."
However, proceedings took a turn when debate on a sensitive abortion-related clause sparked disagreement among lawmakers.
Owing to religious beliefs and calls for further clarification, the Senate resolved to suspend further deliberations on the bill and referred it to the Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights for additional review. The committee is expected to report back within two weeks.
A brief drama also played out during plenary when Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan attempted to reopen discussion on the abortion clause after the bill had been stepped down.
Her move was swiftly countered by Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who raised a point of order, reminding the chamber that parliamentary rules forbid revisiting a motion that has already been ruled upon.
"I think my distinguished sister should agree that these are the rules, and she should recognize them," Oshiomhole said.
Presiding, Senate President Godswill Akpabio upheld the point of order, saying, "I’m not a spirit to know what she wanted to say," before ruling Senator Natasha out of order.
The bill, once harmonised and assented to by the President, will be one of the toughest legal measures against sexual offences in Nigeria’s history.
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